The stakes were high for the Sonoma State University baseball team over the weekend. The Seawolves faced a tough loss against Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday. CSU Monterey Bay shocked the Seawolves with a pair of walk-off wins, which both had ended in 7-6 scores at Seaside.

After two tough losses, Sonoma State’s record sunk to 1-4 of the season, while their CCAA rival, Monterey Bay, remains undefeated at 5-0 for the start of 2016.

Before dropping a pair of games to CSU Monterey Bay, Ryan O’Malley, was named CCAA baseball player of the week. O’Malley, a transfer senior from San Jose, had an incredible performance on the diamond during the Seawolves’ game against Cal State San Bernardino last weekend. “It was a great feeling after having to sit out for a whole year last year and it felt even better to start my career as a Seawolf with a great weekend” Said O’Malley. Ryan finished the weekend strong, going 7 for 12 with three doubles, three home runs and six RBIs. “He was great and definitely helped us to win our game against San Bernardino,” said teammate Adam Manzer, “His plays were something special that you don’t see every week, so I’m glad he received the award.”In game one against CSU Monterey Bay, The Seawolves cruised by early on, with the help of Ryan Luna, who pitched three shutout innings. Sadly, in the fourth inning, the Otters rallied with seven hits and plated five runs in that frame.

Looking for a comeback in the seventh inning, the Seawolves drove in four runs from Grant St. Martin and Ryan O’Malley. The Seawolves tied the game in the eighth inning when former Sonoma State pitcher Stevan Zaharias surrendered a balk and Spencer Neave was able to score.

By the tenth inning, it looked as though the Seawolves would take home the victory after another run was scored by Philip Ramos. Instead, CSUMB countered with a two-run single by Chris Blanton, which ended The Seawolves hopes for victory in the bottom of the tenth.

Pitcher, Matt Hammonds, commented on what the team did well during the first game against the Otters.

“For the most part, I thought we hit the ball pretty well. Our hitters were getting into the groove and when our lineup starts firing on all cylinders, we are very good.” Said Hammonds.

The Seawolves were off to a strong start entering game two against CSU Monterey Bay. Adam Manzer scored a run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly, then Ryan O’Malley added a run to the scoreboard when he scurried to home plate on a wild pitch.

Despite giving up two runs, Monterey then quickly took back the advantage when they scored three runs in the first and three runs in the third, taking a 6-2 lead against the Seawolves.

Sonoma added some runs of their own to tie up the game in the fifth and sixth inning, but were sadly defeated when the Otters scored a run in the bottom of the sixth, resulting in a 7-6 win. The game had to be called due to darkness.The Seawolves will look to get back on the winning track when they are scheduled two games at home this week. The first is on Tuesday the 9th against Menlo College at 2 p.m. The second game is set for February 16th against Academy of Art University also starting at 2 p.m. Adam Manzer describes what the team needs to improve on in order to succeed in these upcoming games. “We need to be better on defense, which will help our pitchers out. Walks in those late innings hurt us bad.” Regardless of the teams, or their record of 1-4 in the standings, the men are eager to see what their season has in store. “I’m looking forward to playing with a great group of guys and competing for a conference championship,” says O’Malley.